Abort, Euthanize, or Get Out of Medicine

September 28, 2016

(The Corner) – Bioethics discourse aims to change the practice of medicine and the thrust of public policy — usually not for the better.

As I have been noting, the field is increasingly targeting the right of doctors to refuse to perform an abortion, euthanize patients, and perform other procedures or issue prescriptions that violate their religious beliefs. A bit ago, I discussed a “consensus statement” on this issue in Practical Ethics, published by Oxford.

Now, two internationally influential bioethicists — Jualian Savulescu and Udo Schuklenk — join forces to advocate that society legally coerce doctors to kill. First, they deconstruct medical professionalism itself by reducing the practice of medicine to the status of mere technocratic order takers. From, “Doctors Have No Right to Refuse Medical Assistance in Dying, Abortion or Contraception:” CONTINUE